Conspiracy theories attract a large number of believers irrespective of their outlandish claims. Such theories often reject the official narratives and surfaces as a rebellious alternative explanation – and some people willingly fall for them.

While almost all conspiracy theories are just a result of an over-imaginative mind, there are a handful that are based on truth. We bring to you such rare, unbelievable conspiracy theories that actually turned out to be true.

1 Operation Snow White was a massive infiltration project of government departments by the Church of Scientology. Though initiated with the aim to restore the Church’s deploring image by purging documents that smeared its image, it later spiraled into a revenge campaign against the enemies of the Church.

Operation Snow White took off in 1973 under the directive of the Church of Scientology founder Ron Hubbard. The Church believed that government officials in England, Germany, and the United States were purposefully maligning its image by propagating false rumors and charges.

In order to restore its image, the Church’s investigative branch, the Guardian Office, infiltrated government offices to obtain documents that linked the Church to criminal activities. For this, agents were appointed as clerks, typists, assistants, and other positions at the IRS, the Justice Department, and other sensitive offices.

Though the initial plan was to operate within the legal radar, the operation soon snowballed into a criminal conspiracy against people who spoke against the Church. They framed author Paulette Cooper and Mayor Gabe Cazares in false criminal activities.

The Guardian Office got hold of stationery with Cooper’s fingerprints. They then accused her of hoax bomb threats against the Church and framed her through the fingerprints. Similarly, Gabe Cazares was framed in a hit-and-run case.

The Church’s conspiracy was exposed when one spy confessed to the FBI after being interrogated for 11 months. This prompted the FBI to lead massive raids on the Church’s offices in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

A trial ensued and Hubbard’s wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, was found guilty along with other high-profile Scientologists. The raids didn’t produce anything substantial to directly link Ron Hubbard with the illegal activities of the Guardian Office. (1, 2, 3)

2 Operation Northwood was a 1962 proposal that instructed US agencies to carry out terrorist activities in and around the US in an attempt to justify military intervention in Fidel Castro-ruled Cuba. The plan was to blame Cuba for all the staged and actual attacks.

Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba in 1959. He shunned trade with the US and began building trade and political relationships with the USSR. The communist-leaning policies of Fidel Castro became a major cause of concern for the United States, which at the time was waging a cold war against the Soviet Union.

To curb the influence of Fidel Castro, the US planned to carry out military intervention in Cuba. But it needed the public support of US citizens to favor war against Cuba. To achieve this, the Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed Operation Northwoods in 1962.

The false flag operation called for the CIA to commit “acts of terrorism” against its own citizens while putting the blame on Cuba. It proposed to attack a US military ship, hijack civilian aircraft, and stage riots so as to create a hostile atmosphere against Cuba by accusing it of all the misdoings.

The proposal was proposed by General Lyman Lemnitzer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but was rejected by Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense. (1 ,2, 3)

3 China supplies the $1 billion yearly transplant trade with organs forcefully resourced from its prisoners. The victims are mainly from two marginalized groups: detainees from the cult  “Falun Gong” and Muslims from the Uighur Community.

In June 2019, the China Tribunal in London concluded that the Chinese government has been involved in systematic organ trafficking at the cost of its political prisoners. Though there have been allegations against the Chinese government since 2001, the first serious investigation into the matter began only in 2006.

In order to harvest organs and benefit financially from the booming transplant market, China has been executing prisoners “on demand.” Hearts, livers, kidneys, and corneas were extracted without the consent of detainees and sold at premium prices to foreigners. (1, 2)

4 Martin Luther King Jr. received a tape and a letter from the FBI, attempting to blackmail him into suicide. The tape contained recordings of King’s interactions with women outside of his marriage. The secret recordings proved that the FBI was surveilling and spying on activists of the civil rights movement.

In an attempt to neutralize King’s influence, the FBI carried out a surveillance operation against him. To collect evidence, linking the Black leader to communist forces, they bugged his hotel rooms and other private places.

The resulting recordings did not produce any proof of communist influence but brought to light King Jr’s extramarital affairs.

In November 1964, the FBI sent the recordings to King and his wife, trying to pressure him into suicide to prevent exposure of his affairs.

The covert recordings exposed the FBI of misusing their power to spy on activists by any means. Unfazed, it continued to secretly record King’s conversations up until 1968. However, the recordings were not released to the public to avoid suspicions against the FBI of surveilling its own citizens. (1, 2)

5 Republican officials, as part of President Nixon’s re-election campaign, infiltrated and spied on meetings of the Democratic National Committee by wiretapping phones at their Watergate Complex office. Nixon won the election but was later forced to resign after the tapes were released.

The Democratic National Committee office was first broken-in and bugged with wire tapes in May 1972 by members of the Nixon’s Re-Election Committee. As the wire tapes didn’t function properly, a second attempt to sweep the office was made on June 17. The attempt failed as the burglars were spotted by a security guard and caught by the police red-handed.

When detectives investigating the burglary found phone numbers of the Nixon Committee among the possessions of the prowlers, doubts were raised regarding their connection.

But Nixon was able to persuade voters about his innocence and won the 1972 election. However, there were still a few people that didn’t believe him. Two journalists from the Washington Post came forward with important information provided to them by an anonymous whistleblower. Also, a few accomplices of Nixon testified that the president had even bugged the Oval Office.

On August 5, 1974, Nixon turned over the tapes on the order of the Supreme Court and resigned from his post before an impending impeachment. (source)